Lionfish in the Everglades

June 27, 2016 by

lionfishEver heard of the lionfish? It’s actually quite a pretty fish with its pectoral fins, brownish stripes; however, it’s not so good for the Everglades. It’s considered an invasive species. Invasive species, non-native species to an area, happen to have the ability to live and thrive in habitats that are not their true home or region. Lionfish haven’t been a huge problem yet in the Everglades, but their numbers are increasing each year. In 2014, 13 lionfish were removed from Everglades National Park.

Although the numbers of lionfish aren’t large yet in the Park, there is a growing abundance of them in nearby waters. It is believed more and more will show up in the area. Currently, there is the “Everglades and Dry Tortugas Lionfish Management Plan” in review that will target specific areas within each park to help suppress lionfish from entering.

The lionfish is native to Indo-Pacific waters. It is a venomous, predatory fish that was introduce to the Atlantic waters around the 1980s. It is believed this fish made its way here either through aquarium trade or through ballast water on international boats. These lionfish can live in water anywhere from 1 to 1,000 feet in mangroves, seagrass, coral, hard bottom, and artificial reefs.

It is believed they could have a real big impact on the marine ecosystems here in south Florida. Their presence will decrease the number of native and commercial species. Although it doesn’t happen often, their stings are also known to be painful and can lead to serious injury.

Here are some ways lionfish are bad for the Everglades: they feed primarily on larvai and juvenile fish, they eat and consume a great variety of fishes and crustaceans, and they also eat herbivorous fish that graze on algae.  With this behavior, the number of fish will dwindle, there will be less fish in the water and less fish for other predators to eat; also with more algae around, it can overgrow and keep coral and sponges from growing and thriving.

Right now, the lionfish is the only known invasive marine fish recognized at having invaded the entire Caribbean and coastal waters around southeastern United States. These fish are slow moving and easy to capture. Netting and spearing is usually used to capture them.

Take a Ride through the Everglades

If you’re in the Everglades and spot a lionfish, you should report the sighting to the National Park by calling 305-809-4738 or 305-562-0820. One way you might spot this invasive fish is on an airboat tour with Captain Mitch. Wouldn’t it be exciting to be the one to spot the creature who is harming the precious ecosystem you’re currently riding in? To book a tour, all Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours at 239-695-3377 or click here.

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Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours Earns TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence

June 16, 2016 by

tripadvisorCaptain Mitch’s Airboat Tours has received a TripAdvisor® 2016 Certificate of Excellence. Now in its sixth year, the achievement celebrates hospitality businesses that have earned great traveler reviews on TripAdvisor over the past year. Certificate of Excellence recipients include accommodations, eateries and attractions located all over the world that have continually delivered a quality customer experience.

“With the Certificate of Excellence, TripAdvisor honors hospitality businesses that have consistently received strong praise and ratings from travelers,” said Heather Leisman, Vice President of Industry Marketing, TripAdvisor. “This recognition helps travelers identify and book properties that regularly deliver great service. TripAdvisor is proud to play this integral role in helping travelers feel more confident in their booking decisions.”

The Certificate of Excellence accounts for the quality, quantity and recency of reviews submitted by travelers on TripAdvisor over a 12-month period. To qualify, a business must maintain an overall TripAdvisor bubble rating of at least four out of five, have a minimum number of reviews and must have been listed on TripAdvisor for at least 12 months.

TripAdvisor® is the world’s largest travel site, enabling travelers to plan and book the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers advice from millions of travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools that check hundreds of websites to find the best hotel prices. TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, reaching 340 million unique monthly visitors***, and 350 million reviews and opinions covering 6.5 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. The sites operate in 48 markets worldwide.

Captain Mitch and his family have been a part of the airboat tourist industry in the Everglades  in South Florida for more than 60 years. To book a trip with Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours, a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence recipient, call 239-695-3377 or click here.

 

 

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The Everglades Mink

June 16, 2016 by

minkThe Everglades is home to the Everglades Mink, hence the name! This small member of the weasel family is one of three types of minks found in Florida. The Everglades Mink happens to be the only one that lives in south Florida. They are semi-aquatic, carnivorous and also related to otters, ferrets, badgers, and martens.

An Everglades Mink has chocolate brown fur, a small head and tiny black eyes and ears. Its legs are short, it has a pointed muzzle, five partially webbed toes on each food but it has a long bushy tail. A mink’s feet help them swim easily in water while they search for food. A mink also releases an unpleasant-smelling liquid, similar to a skunks; it does this as a warning and also a marker for other minks to know of its presence. It doesn’t spray this liquid, unlike s skunk, but does release it out of fear. The mix will also squeal, snarl, and hiss if it is frightened. This mink can grow up to 25 inches long.

Like stated before, its home is in the Everglades, also including shallow freshwater marshes and swamps of the Fakahatchee Strand, Big Cypress Swamp.

Despite their small size, Everglade minks are known to grab prey larger than themselves. They are nocturnal and hunt for food on land and in the water; they enjoy eating small mammals, snakes, fish, and insects.

Usually, a mink will be found by itself; unless, it’s a mother raising its young. A female mink can give birth to three to six kits during the spring time. The kits are born hairless, but open their eyes and start growing hair around three weeks. These babies usually stay around the mother until the fall. Females stay close to the den, while male roam twice as far and visit other dens. Dens are usually found in a hollow log, or under tree roots.

The Everglades mink is a threatened special by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. In recent years, this mink has only been spotted in shallow freshwater marshes and swamps of the Everglades Park.

Spot the Mink
Although it usually comes out at night, there’s a chance you may still see an Everglades mink while exploring the Everglades as it heads home to its den. The best way to see the variety of wildlife and vegetation in the Everglades is a ride through the Everglades on an airboat with Captain Mitch. Airboat tours in Everglades give visitors an up-close-and-personal view of the mink’s habitat. Call Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours at 239-695-3377 or click here to book a trip today!

 

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The Everglades’ New Designation

June 10, 2016 by

evergladesEverglades restoration is a hot topic right now, and we’d like to share as much news and updates about progress as we can. Why? Well without the beautiful Everglades, there would be no airboat tours, of course, never mind the fact that hundreds of birds, animals, and plants could possibly disappear from the Earth forever. With that said, the North American Coastal Plain, which includes the Everglades, was recently declared by the Conservation International of the North Atlantic Coastal Plain (NACP) as a Global Hotspot – it is number 36.

This designation will help the ecosystems in Florida, including the Everglades, tremendously. The North American Coastal Plain stretches from northern Massachusetts all the way down to the Florida Keys. Right now, the Everglades is a US National Park, a UNESCO International Biosphere Reserve and a RAMSAR Convention Wetland of International Importance. Although it already has all of this global recognition of being such a special place, this recognition calls even more attention to how threatened the wetlands truly are.

To be considered a biodiversity hotspot, an area has to support more than 1,500 endemic vascular plans, while also experiencing more than 70 percent habitat loss. This description fits the Everglades as it is known for its large biodiversity and shrinking habitats due to damming and climate change. It is unclear why it has taken so long to receive this distinction but Evelyn Gaiser, executive director of the School of Environment, Arts, and Society, thinks that because it is relatively young ecosystem, the Everglades’ true diversity has been unrecognized until now. The area developed around 4,000 years ago.

She states, “Protection and restoration of the Everglades is dependent on our ability to predict and influence its future as it responds to these changes. It also depends on the level to which citizens understand and value it, and engage in fostering a viable future for its inhabitants and functions”

This new status helps the Everglades receive recognition as a threated area beyond the state of Florida. All of the world understands that this place is a rare wetland area on the Earth that is home to many unique and endangered living organisms and fresh water.

Enjoy the Everglades

We live in a world that is now working to protect the Everglades. Keeping the Everglades alive and well will ensure so much wildlife can flourish for years to come, while us humans can enjoy the area for pleasure and scientific purposes. Do you want to explore the Everglades firsthand? Take a trip to the Everglades for your chance to see a diverse ecosystem like no other. Airboat tours of the Everglades give visitors an up-close-and-personal view of the country’s treasure. Call Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours at 239-695-3377 or click here to book a trip today!

 

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The Everglades Snail Kite

June 3, 2016 by

snail kite The Snail Kite (formerly known as the Everglades Snail Kite) was listed as endangered in 1967. Fast forward 49 years, this bird is still on the federal endangered species list and state regulators are being accused of not protecting the species properly. In 2000, there were 3,400 kites around and by 2008 there were only 700.

The snail kite is known for its slender, curved bill. This bill is able to extract the apple snail from its shell for the bird to eat. The snail kite is a medium-sized brown/gray raptor that flies slow with its head tilted down often while it looks for prey. They use their feet to capture the snails that are right below the surface of the water.

This raptor lives along freshwater marshes and manmade lakes. They prefer non-dense vegetation areas, because the openness allows them to easily search for the apple snails. Snail kites are considered nomadic in Florida because they move depending on water depths, food availability, hydroperiod, and other changes in the habitat.

The biggest threat to the snail kite is the loss of the wetlands in Florida. When sewage is disposed through septic tanks and runs off into the water and land, the water quality lowers and exotic and invasive plants grow heavily and reduce visibility of the apple snails in the water. In order to keep the snail kite around, the area’s water stages in lakes in canals to be regulated to certain vegetation is there for the bird’s habitat to exist.

In February, a federal official accused state regulators of not properly protecting the snail kite. In January, heavy rainfall occurred in Florida and was overfilling Lake Okeechobee; the U.S. Army Corps released lots of water from the lake which flowed into estuaries. This flowing of water changed the water level in many areas of the state too quickly, which in turn disrupted the nesting sites of the snail kite. If their nests get swept away from the higher levels of water, they are unable to reproduce. This destruction was caused by an act (the dumping of the water) which was illegally done, because no permit was obtained for this flood control act.

Despite the snail kite’s habitat being completely fragile and vulnerable, numbers have been slowly increase in recent years.

Spot the Snail Kite

This majestic creature has been in trouble for decades but continues to hold on. The snail kite’s specific diet of mainly apple snails makes it hard for the bird to thrive in different areas, since it’s dependent on a watershed with a certain water quality and vegetation.  Although this bird is still around, there’s always the chance it could disappear in the years to come. Book an airboat tour today through the snail kite’s habitat within the Everglades to try and catch a glimpse of this precious, endangered bird. To book a tour, contact Captain Mitch’s Airboat Tours at 239-695-3377 or click here.

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